Holidaymaker 'booted off flight without full refund' after money-saving hack attempt backfires

Cheap airline fares may seem like the holy grail for the budget savvy traveller, however make sure to double check the small print when you book.

We've all heard about travellers being fined over the size of their bags or kicked off of flights for disguising their clothes as a travel pillow.

But if you arrive at the gate having followed all of the rules you'd imagine you would be fine; however this is not the case, as devastated couple Scott McCormick and Helena Boshwick say they discovered after being booted off their flight for supposedly using this travel hack.

The 33-year-old couple were travelling from Birmingham Airport to Mallorca, Spain for a week-long holiday and gym-mentorship event on the sun-soaked island.

However their holiday would nearly end at the departure gate.

Scott and his partner decided against reserving seats on their flight to Mallorca (Kennedy)

With the flight being just two hours, Scott and Helena decided against paying extra to reserve seats.

Reserving a specific seat on a flight can be useful for families travelling with young children or anyone looking to avoid the middle seat for anywhere between £4.50 and £33 per seat.

But as the couple weren't too bothered about being seated apart they decided to save some cash and be allocated a random seat.

"We checked in the night before and we didn't reserve a seat but you normally just get a random one," Scott explained.

"Me and my partner thought it's not that much of a problem if we're not sitting together for a two-hour flight, we're adults here."

However, when the pair reached the boarding queue they claim they were pulled aside by a member of staff, who informed them there was only one available seat left on the flight.

The couple were slapped with an unexpected fee at the airport (Kennedy)

After questioning the flight attendant about how this had happened, Scott claimed he was told this was because the flight was full and they 'hadn't reserved a seat', so their options were to travel separately and be reimbursed for the second seat or wait for the next flight.

"We said we wanted to get on the next flight together. They said 'you can do that, we will fully reimburse both tickets and put you on the next flight for free'," Scott explained, adding that the couple had requested the offer to be put in writing for them.

However, when the pair made it to the ticket desk, they say they were informed they could only be reimbursed for one ticket, meaning they had to pay an additional £100 and wait for hours before travelling.

"We went down to ticket sales and they said we still have to pay for one ticket, only one is reimbursed. One of the seats was put down as a cancelled booking and the other was a missed flight so we'd still have to pay for one seat and be reimbursed for the other," Scott continued.

"That's the biggest part of the [issue], we were just lied to at the gate but then we still sold us a seat and we still have seen no sign of reimbursement."

Scott subsequently shared their ordeal online and discovered that he and Helena weren't the only people to experience this.

"This is crazy! Surely if you pay and don't reserve a seat, you still paid with the intention of getting on a flight how can they not allow you on," one person commented under his post, while a second added: "Prepay for a seat, then problem solved. ALL airlines do this."

"We just got caught in a big company's terms and conditions. The biggest stress was at the gate when they said we aren't going on this flight," Scott continued.

"It was a terrible way to start a holiday."

A Ryanair spokesperson told LADbible: “This flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca (1 May) was not ‘overbooked’ – it was scheduled to operate on a 737-8200 (197 seats) but for operational reasons had to be swapped to a 737-800 aircraft (189 seats). As a result, 1 passenger was unable to travel on this flight, and was reaccommodated onto the next available flight to Palma de Mallorca.

"Mr. McCormick’s travel companion was not refused boarding but chose not to board and travel on this flight from Birmingham to Palma de Mallorca and was required to pay a Missed Departure fee (£100) to be booked onto the next available flight.

"Mr. McCormick was notified by email on the day of travel (1 May) that he was entitled to claim back reasonable receipted expenses, however Mr. McCormick has yet to submit any expense receipts to Ryanair.”